Sahibzada Baba Zorawar Singh Ji

Author/Source: Sikh Encyclopedia

This year Baba Zorawar Singh Ji's Janam-divas was observed on November 28th, in accordance to the NanakShahi Calendar

BABA ZORÂWAR SIṄGH (1696-1705), the third son of Gurû Gobind Siṅgh, was born to Mâtâ Jîtojî at Anandpur on 17 November 1696, and was barely nine years old at the time of the evacuation of Anandpur on the night of 5-6 December 1705. (all dates are pre-Nanakshahi)

Since the passing away, on 5 December 1700, of Mâtâ Jîtojî, Mâtâ Gujarî, his grandmother had been especially attached to young Zorâwar Siṅgh and his infant brother, Fateh Siṅgh. She took charge of both as the column moved out of Anandpur. While crossing on horseback the rivulet Sarsâ, then in spate, the three were separated from Gurû Gobind Siṅgh.

Gaṅgû, who had also succeeded in crossing the stream, escorted them to his own house in the village of Kheṛî, now known as Saheṛî, near Moriṇḍâ in present-day Ropaṛ district. While unsaddling the horse he saw that there was some cash in the saddlebag. This tempted him to treachery. He not only stole the saddlebag during the night, but also planned to betray the fugitives to the government in hope of a reward. On the morning of 7 December 1705, the day of the fateful battle of Chamkaur, Zorâwar Siṅgh, along with Fateh Siṅgh and their grandmother, was taken into custody by Jânî Khân and Mânî Khân Raṅghaṛ, the officials at Moriṇḍâ.

They were despatched on the following day to Sirhind where they were consigned to the Cold Tower (Ṭhaṇḍa Burj) of the Fort. On 9 December 1705, Zorâwar Siṅgh and Fateh Siṅgh were produced before the faujdâr, Nawâb Wazîr Khân, who had just returned from Chamkaur with his feudal ally, Nawâb Sher Muhammad Khân of Mâlerkoṭlâ. Wazîr Khân tried to lure the Sâhibzâdâs to embrace Islam with promises of riches and honours, but they spurned the suggestion. He then threatened them with death, but they remained undaunted. Death sentence was finally pronounced.

Upon Sher Muhammad Khân's intercession for the innocent children to be spared their lives, they were given some more time to ponder over the suggestion to convert. Zorâwar Siṅgh and his brother spent another two days of severe winter in their old grandmother's lap in the Cold Tower. Still adamant, they were, on 11 December 1705, ordered to be sealed alive in a wall. According to tradition, as the masonry around their tender bodies reached chest-high, it crumbled.

The Sâhibzâdâs were sent to the Cold Tower again for the night. The next day, 12 December 1705, the alternative of conversion being again turned down, Zorâwar Siṅgh and Fateh Siṅgh were put to death by execution. The aged Mâtâ Gujarî, who had all along been kept in the Cold Tower, only a little distance away, breathed her last as the news reached her ears. Seṭh Ṭoḍar Mall, a wealthy merchant of Sirhind, performed the cremation of the three dead bodies the following day.

The site of the fateful happenings, known now as Fatehgaṛh Sâhib, close to the old town of Sirhind, is now marked by four Sikh shrines. A religious fair is held here from 25 to 28 December every year to honour the memory of the martyrs.

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